Dating App Tinder Targeted by Norway Consumer Agency for 'Unfair' Terms
Norway's consumer protection agency filed a complaint Thursday against U.S.-based Tinder, saying the mobile dating app company's terms and conditions may have breached Norwegian law, affecting the country's roughly 500,000 Tinder users. The Norwegian Consumer Council, or Forbrukerrådet, asked the…
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government-appointed Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman to investigate several issues. For instance, the complaint said Tinder's terms of use say disputes shall be settled by binding arbitration in Texas, where the company is based, "limiting the users' scope in taking legal action against the company." The council also said the wording of Tinder's terms of use implies people are bound by it whether they access the app or website and even if they don't create an account. After accepting the terms, the permission granted by the user to Tinder "is far-reaching and would appear to be infinite" and includes all types of storage and information processing such as sharing information with its partners, the complaint said. It said that the terms imply that user consent can't be revoked and accounts can't be deleted. Another problem is that Tinder says users must be at least 13 years old to access and use the app, but it doesn't require consent from parents or guardians for minors to use the service, the council said. "The fact that Tinder targets users this young means that not all users of the service are equally qualified to evaluate the terms and conditions," the complaint said. "The Terms of Use are also only available in English, and the wording is difficult to grasp." The council said Tinder can also amend the service without notifying users, which may be "an unfair contractual term." Tinder's terms of use may also violate European law, the council said. A Tinder spokeswoman emailed that the company tries to comply with alllocal and national regulations. "If and when authorities bring up larger privacy concerns, we always take them into consideration and, if applicable to our users, take steps to implement any necessary changes," she wrote. "We are committed to protecting our users’ privacy and strive to uphold a fair and trusted privacy policy."